Sand dredging in a Borneo wildlife sanctuary is threatening the habitats of endangered pygmy elephants and a rare species of monkey, Malaysian activists said Thursday.Sand-laden barges were once again moving up and down rivers in the Kinabatangan wildlife sanctuary in Sabah state on Borneo island, despite having previously been stopped, they said.

Harjinder Kler from the Hutan environmental group, said the erosion caused by the dredging would affect about 200 pygmy elephants and a few hundred proboscis monkeys living in the sanctuary.”It will cause more and more of their habitat to be eroded and polluted as a result of the siltation from the dredging,” Kler told AFP.

As the Kinabatangan river feeds into the Sulu Sea, she said the silt from the dredging would also pollute the Coral Triangle — a global centre of marine biodiversity spanning Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guniea, East Timor and the Solomon Islands.Most sand dredging works were halted following the creation of the Kinabatangan wildlife sanctuary in 2005, a 26,000 hectare (64,000 acre) area in the north of the state.More

Rate this:

There’s no denying animal instincts.
Kim Kardashian learned that lesson the hard way when she visited the offices of Katalyst, where pal Ashton Kutcher was filming. While there, the reality star was treated to a show by the magician Dynamo, who made a monkey appear. At first, Kardashian found the simian “cute” – that is, until the furry friend peed on her.

She shared a photo of the offending animal on her blog, adding: “Ashton said the monkey had pooped on him, so I didn’t feel too bad, haha. Gross little monkey!”

On the upside, “This magician was amazing, though,” Kardashian wrote. “He did the craziest card tricks!”

Although the ape will be looked after by a robot on the mission, the decision is expected to spark controversy with animal rights groupsThe Russians first succeeded in putting monkeys into orbit in 1983. “We have plans to return to space,” said Zurab Mikvabia, director of the Institute of Experimental Pathology and Therapy in Georgia which supplied apes for the programme in the 1980s.

The Institute is in preliminary talks with Russia’s Cosmonautics Academy about preparing monkeys for a simulated Mars mission that could lay the groundwork for sending an ape to the Red Planet, he said.Such an initiative would build on Mars-500, a joint Russian-European project that saw six human volunteers confined in a capsule in Moscow for 120 days earlier this year to simulate a Mars mission.

Mr Mikvabia said: “Earlier this programme was aimed at sending cosmonauts, people (to Mars).”But given the length of the flight to Mars, and given the cosmic rays for which we don’t have adequate protection over such a long trip, discussions have focused recently on sending an ape instead of a person.”

Estimates for the length of the journey to Mars vary depending on the type of mission envisioned, but the European Space Agency says its proposal for a round-trip mission would take 520 days, or about a year and a half.If Russia pursues the idea of sending monkeys to Mars, Mikvabia’s institute could become the site of an enclosed “biosphere” where apes would be kept for long periods to simulate space flights.

The Institute said a robot would accompany the first primate to Mars to feed and look after the ape.Mr Mikvabia said: “The robot will feed the monkey, will clean up after it. Our task will be to teach the monkey to co-operate with the robot.”

Rate this:

The intense exchanges that human mothers share with their newborn infants may have some pretty deep roots, suggests a study of rhesus macaques reported online on October 8th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication.

The new findings show that mother macaques and their infants have interactions in the first month of life that the researchers say look a lot like what humans tend to do.

“What does a mother or father do when looking at their own baby?” asked Pier Francesco Ferrari of the Università di Parma in Italy. “They smile at them and exaggerate their gestures, modify their voice pitch—the so-called “motherese”—and kiss them. What we found in mother macaques is very similar: they exaggerate their gestures, “kiss” their baby, and have sustained mutual gaze.”More

Rate this:

The study, financed by UK charity the Wellcome Trust, examined the clinical and laboratory features of the P. knowlesi strain of malaria, which until recently was thought to predominantly infect monkeys in Southeast Asia.

Researchers led by professors Balbir Singh and Janet Cox-Singh of the University Malaysia Sarawak found that the malaria strain was widespread among humans in Malaysia and neighboring countries. Their research confirmed that P. knowlesi is a fifth strain of malaria that can prove fatal in humans, unlike a similar but usually benign strain called P. malariae.

“P. knowlesi malaria can easily be confused with P. malariae since these two parasites look similar by microscopy,” Singh said. “In fact, because the P. knowlesi parasites reproduce every 24 hours in the blood, the disease can be potentially fatal.”More

Rate this:

Villagers in China were more than a little shocked when this monkey-like pig was born! After news of the piglet spread through Fengzhang village, Xiping township, curious locals flocked to the home of owner Feng Changlin.
“It’s hideous. No one will be willing to buy it, and it scares the family to even look at it!” Feng told Oriental Today.

He says the piglet looks just like a monkey, with two thin lips, a small nose and two big eyes. Its rear leg
are also much longer than its forelegs, causing it to jump instead of walk.Feng’s wife said the monkey-faced piglet was one of five newborns of a sow which the family had raised for nine years.

“My God, it was so scary. I didn’t known what it was. I was really frightened,” she said.

“But our son likes to play with it, and he stopped us from getting rid of it. He even feeds it milk.”

Neighbours have suggested the couple keep the piglet to see how it looks as it matures. Photos indicate that the piglet is alive and well.OK, I’m just gonna say it, anyone else wondering what the owner looks like?? I know, I’m awful, but seriously!